How many euro institutions do not squirm...

Question: How could you comment on the resolution adopted by the European Parliament that Russia is allegedly a "sponsor of terrorism"?

S.V. Lavrov: This, in my opinion, is obvious to all sane people. I don't have a medical education.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, in response to this news, suggested recognizing the European Parliament as a sponsor of idiocy.

Diplomats know better, they have their own customs and their own language, which happens only in exceptional cases. Apparently, the resolution of the European Parliament (EP) referred to such phenomena. But the document was also adopted for Moscow, the question is to make decisions if the State Duma deputies consider that the time has come.

The resolution was adopted following a vote at the plenary session in Strasbourg. 494 parliamentarians voted for the document, 58 opposed, 44 abstained. The resolution can be considered the most stringent of all ever adopted by the EP in relation to Russia, the correspondent of The Moscow Post reports.

The EP called for strengthening Moscow's isolation, "reducing diplomatic contacts" and "completing work on the ninth package of sanctions." The European Union (EU) does not yet have a legislative framework for including countries in the lists of sponsor states of terrorism.

Since 2016, only the regime of personal sanctions against individuals and organizations supporting terrorism has been in effect. They include 13 individuals and 4 organizations, including IS (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) and Al-Qaeda (a terrorist organization banned in Russia).

Legs grow from Riga

The European Parliament calls on Brussels and the countries of the union to create a legal framework and consider the possibility of including Russia in the black list.

To pass resolutions in mega-groups such as the European Parliament, you need a gunman. If a proposal is made, the process develops according to the procedure. Recall that the initiative to recognize Russia as a "state supporting terrorism" belongs to the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Sejm of Latvia. The elected representatives of the Latvian people made this step on August 2.

Further, on August 11, Russia, as a "state supporting terrorism," called the Latvian parliament and called for "to stop issuing tourist visas and limit the issuance of entry visas." The document indicated that the Russian Federation was recognized as a country supporting terrorism, and its actions against the population of Ukraine were recognized as terrorism. The next step was to be the European Parliament.

Senator Sergei Tsekov then threatened "painful measures of an economic nature," which, according to him, "will point Latvia in its place." But the measures did not follow. Next, the Estonian parliament recognized the Russian regime as terrorist, condemned the entry of new regions into the Russian Federation.

Problems in relations with the Baltic countries are well known. For example, we heard that "Latvian politicians have turned the European Parliament" into something unacceptable for Moscow. The Russian Foreign Ministry recorded this back in June 2005, and maybe earlier.

The 2007 Foreign Policy Review of the Russian Federation noted... " bursts of "occupation" rhetoric, manifestations of neo-Nazism in these countries, plans of Estonian national radicals to dismantle monuments to Soviet soldiers. "

Even then, these "bursts" were at least one and a half decades old. But no one wanted complications in relations with Europe because of Latvia. The European Union was considered a strategic partner. In early 2007, it was said that the European Parliament approved an agreement on facilitating the visa regime, and the ratification of this document was waiting.

Europe, meanwhile, remained what it was in 1812, 1914 or 1941-1945. We just preferred to forget about this for a while for talking about a common "European house" and strategic partnership with the EU, which step by step became the EuroNATO Union.

Since then, the situation has changed, the political influence of the Baltic countries in Europe has grown, which gives them the opportunity to promote such resolutions. The attitude towards this document in Moscow is complex. Emotions are mixed with a desire to emphasize the legal nullity of this act. The characteristics are given by parliamentarians, but they do not offer solutions.

Legal consequences and only?

Vice-Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev noted in his Telegram channel that the EP resolution "does not give rise to legal consequences for Russia." In September last year, the same body considered a resolution to "ban" the Russian world, recalled Andrei Klimov, head of the Federation Council commission to protect the state sovereignty of the Russian Federation. We add, it's good that it's not a resolution on destruction!

Klimov also said that the EP resolution on recognizing Russia as a "sponsor of terrorism" has no legal significance, Gazeta.ru said. In his opinion, the decision "imitates violent anti-Russian activities" and called such actions "agony" of the EP and deputies-representatives. "It certainly doesn't matter legally," he said.

Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov proposed to the European Parliament to adopt a second resolution proclaiming EU member states "states sponsoring neo-Nazism." "Otherwise, they cannot explain their boundless sympathy for the Kyiv regime," he explained.

Adalbi Shkhagoshev, a member of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, shared with RT the opinion that the decision on the resolution was made in order to divert attention from the investigation of the explosions on Nord Stream and the massacre of Russian prisoners of war. He also stressed that the decision "absolutely does not oblige to anything."

But doubts remain. Maybe the resolution was supposed to "distract attention," maybe the document could be used "in the long run" to attack Moscow's position. Earlier, Zakharova called Brussels an "abnormal political virus" that decided to "self-isolate" from Russia. Maybe the EU's goal is to isolate Russia. Depends on how to look at the resolution in the new conditions.

Says former plenipotentiary

It would be correct to interpret the adoption of the resolution as a source of threats and a reason for concern, and not as a sign of the stupidity of the EP, as Vladimir Chizhov, the former Russian plenipotentiary to the EU, now the first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, said.

Chizhov added that... " the executive structures of the European Union, and, moreover, the EU member states are not formally obliged to fulfill this. " He recalled that the EP is one of the few parliaments in the western part of the world that is not accountable to anyone and which no one can dissolve. "I know two more of these: one is the House of Lords in the UK, and the second is the American Congress. So they are competing, "the senator concluded.

They compete, and together against Russia. Recall that Moscow maintains formal relations with Brussels, holds traditional meetings of the Minister of Foreign Affairs with the heads of diplomatic missions of the EU member states and the head of the EU Representative Office in the Russian Federation. So, in September, an exchange of views took place on relations between Russia and the EU. Europeans were once again pointed out to the futility of building relations on the principles of "rebuking" and "shackling," as they are trying to do in the European Union.

On October 25, Deputy Foreign Minister A.V. Grushko received the head of the EU Representative Office in Moscow M. Ederer, discussed issues of the bilateral agenda and the schedule of upcoming events within the framework of the political dialogue.

From an interview with the Permanent Representative of Russia to the EU V.A. Chizhov "Rossiyskaya Gazeta," June 15, 2016: "

Question: What does it mean - does the political dialogue work?

Answer: Back in May, a meeting of political directors took place in Moscow. On our part, Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksey Meshkov took part in it, on the part of the EU - Deputy Secretary General of the European Foreign Policy Service Helga Schmid... Both bilateral affairs and interaction at international venues were discussed. There the situation looks much better. This is also an integral part of the political dialogue. "

But Chizhov himself clarified: "The institutionalized structures of interaction between Russia and the EU for the most part do not work. Permanent Partnership Council in the format of foreign ministers,... the last time convened in November 2011 - long, I note, before the Kyiv Maidan. "

And when in December 2021, in an interview with TASS, Ambassador Chizhov spoke about the EU's reaction to the December initiatives of the Russian Federation on security guarantees, he recalled that Josep Borrell was offended that Moscow's proposals did not stipulate a separate "place at the negotiating table" for the EU.

Chizhov also noted that "although the European Union was not and is not going to become a military organization, many of its security and defense initiatives were born and continue to be developed in close coordination with NATO. Summing up, the senator, and then the plenipotentiary of Russia to the EU, noted: "The European Union has not yet confirmed its status as a responsible and independent partner to discuss such serious issues at this level. However, we do not detract from the political weight and potential of the EU in these negotiations at all, it can play an important supporting role. "

Two boots and a'supportive role' for the EU

Today, the Russian Foreign Ministry states that Brussels is mired in anti-Russian rhetoric; the EU and its individual member states are supplying lethal weapons and military equipment to the Kyiv regime. The European Union is fundamentally revising the strategy of relations with Russia, launched the EUMAM Ukraine mission to train Ukrainian soldiers. The euro project "Military Mobility" was joined by the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. We are talking about the development of a new strategy, which is based on the idea of ​ ​ consolidated isolation of Russia. The "supporting role" of the EU is expressed in the unconditional assistance of the United States and NATO.

And what about the European Parliament? As they say, "two boots of steam" and a parliamentary "boot" steps in step with the bureaucratic, does its part. And some "frames" flow from the EU to the EP and back. In 2014, for example, the head of the Estonian diplomatic service, Urmas Paet, decided to go to the European Parliament. The place was vacated by MEP Andrus Ansip, promoted to the post of vice president of the European Commission.

The European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament are three communicating test tubes with an "abnormal political virus" if you use the terminology of Maria Zakharova. And no matter how much we would like to reduce the problem of the resolution to its "legal insignificance," or call the European Parliament an empty talker, the problem will remain.

And this problem is that the strides of the European Parliament should not be separated from the already established line in the policy of the European Union towards Russia. Brussels takes an active part on the side of Kyiv in the conflict in Ukraine. And, despite the fact that Russia's recognition as a "sponsor of terrorism" is a pseudo-juridical concept, Kyiv welcomed this step.

The authors of the resolution are trying to push the European Union to war with Russia. This opinion was voiced on Wednesday by the French MEP Thierry Mariani. In total, 58 MEPs opposed, another 44 abstained. "Among those who voted against, the majority are French. Thierry Mariani indicated that members of his National Rally party did not fully support the document. According to the MEP, the EP is "saturated with hatred of Russia," this structure uses any methods to harm Moscow, even if it does not lead to anything.

Hate is a vague concept. To hate does not mean to insult and shit yet. They say that when solving any problem, you have to deal with the details. In the case of Russophobia, it is a matter of individual countries that carry this "virus," their appointees in the governing bodies of the European Union and the European Parliament. It is not difficult to imagine that those EP deputies who voted "against" can wait for some kind of retaliatory steps of Moscow. Those who started all this also deserve attention. It all comes down to a willingness to decide how to continue to deal with Russia's open enemies.

Russia will respond to the resolution of the European Parliament, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Vedomosti. The European Parliament should deal with high inflation and problems in the energy sector, and not with resolutions against Russia, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said. Meanwhile, in Latvia, attackers saw bus benches for firewood. More frequent cases of wood theft and illegal felling of trees are reported.